The Appliance Of Science
by Lateral Ganon
Summary: Technology rules supreme in LaRousse city, from moving sidewalks to a fully automatic Tournament system in the famous Battle Tower. A Rewrite of Pokemon: Destiny Deoxys. Read & Review. Chapter 4 up. Some Advanceshipping and brief Altoshipping.
1. Of Physics And IceCream

This is the second of my stories that is a rewrite of one of the Pokemon Movies. In this case, it's Destiny Deoxys, although it may not look much like it from the start. I missed out Wishmaker because frankly, it was boring and there wasn't much I could do to change the plot. No backstory to it as such to play with.

Warning: Rated T becasue I always rate them T. Obviously being a rewrite of Destiny Deoxys, it may contain spoilers for the movie.

Disclaimers: I do own the characters of Ganon, Laura, Moxis, and Kelvin. I also own locations not in the original movie, such as the university. I do not own Pokemon as a whole.

# # # Story Notes # # #

_Italics are thoughts. Typically Ganon's. That's the same in all of my fics._

I don't think Rafe actually had a surname in the movie, I've just added it.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Of Physics and Ice-Cream**

Light streamed through the high windows of the lecture theatre onto the floor below, lighting up dozens of rows of tired students lining the benches. They were a mixed group, some leaning forwards eagerly, hanging onto every word the teacher was saying, and others finding more enlightenment from discussing and refining the various techniques of the art of paper aviation.

"And detention for you Mr Smith." A teacher from the side of the room shouted up to the small boy who had tugged open the curtain. Most of the students turned to laugh at him.

"Well actually Billy, thank you for opening that curtain." The guest lecturer called up to the class, silencing them, "Now I can see who's picking their noses, holding hands with each other, or in quite a few cases, both."

Some of the students laughed at the speaker's unusual sense of humour, and the boy resentfully closed the curtain again.

"Thank you. Now if I could just get your attention again… This projection shows you the interior mechanism of a wind turbine. Would anyone care to identify…" He pointed at a component resembling a coil of wires with an iron core passing through the centre with a laser pen, "What this component is?"

None of the students put up there hands.

"No-one? Well that's disappointing." The guest said, as he started to stride around the room. The spotlight swivelled to follow him, the glare reflecting off his slightly spiky silver hair. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt, although he'd left his jacket on his chair to try and integrate better with the youngsters. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, and the glasses perched on the end of his nose were evidently more for decoration. His red eyes scanned the audience for any signs of an answer.

"I can just imagine aliens now in their search for intelligent life. They'd be wondering who had the map upside-down." More of the students laughed, "But seriously. You children are supposed to be the future. This is Larousse City, the land of Gadgetry and everything high-tech. If you don't even understand modern technology that you already have, how can you possibly advance on it?"

"Excuse me Professor." One of the students asked. The professor looked at him. The boy had brown hair and was wearing a grey tracksuit. He appeared quite young for the group, being about sixteen.

"Hand, Johnson." The student put up his hand, "What is it then."

"A dynamo sir." The boy said. The professor smiled.

"Very good. See, the human race has hope yet. That is in fact the armature of the dynamo, and the primary power source of this city." The bell outside the hall rang, "And I believe that is my cue to let you escape." The guest finished, rubbing his hands together. The accompanying teacher walked back into the pit.

"And if everyone could show their appreciation for Mr…" The teacher paused, looking at the guest.

"Ganon, but-"

"Okay then. Would everyone give a hand for Ganon." He called up. Everyone in the audience started applauding, and one or two of the older students at the back began whooping. Ganon sat there and waved awkwardly.

_But please don't make a big fuss of it…_ He thought as the students began filing out of the hall. He walked back over to where he'd left his jacket, and one of the girls from the audience walked up behind him.

"Ganon?" The girl asked. Ganon jumped and looked around at her. She was a pretty girl that was about seventeen with light blue hair down to between her shoulders, "Would you want to go out with me?"

Ganon took a step backwards. He wasn't surprised that girls his age would be attracted to him, but he'd never expected them to be so forward.

"Why me?" He asked, not wanting to hurt her feelings too badly.

"Well, I don't know why, but when you were talking, I just thought, 'Wow! He's gorgeous'. So how about a date?" She said, bouncing slightly on the spot in anticipation.

"I'm sorry, but I'm already with someone." He said.

"Oh." The girl said, looking down at the floor for a few seconds before running off. Ganon watched her leave and shrugged. Nutters. He got them all the time.

He packed up his projector into a bag, along with a few of his models and the jacket, and walked out of the room. He walked over to the little café and presented a small piece of plastic to a card reader. A moment later, a cup of coffee came out of the machine, and Ganon walked to a nearby table with it. He sat back and watched some Pelippers riding the current on a lake outside. A few of the other students were lounging by the waters edge themselves, chatting between themselves. A girl with shoulder length red hair sat on the chair next to Ganon. She was also about seventeen.

"Hi Laura."

"Had a good lecture darling?" She asked. Ganon smiled.

"Well when Moxis got us the tickets, I thought I was going to be doing an investment demonstration for some businessmen. When I get here it turns out I'm a guest speaker for some kids doing science."

"The business demonstration is this afternoon." She said. Ganon groaned.

"That's the one at the Battle Tower right?"

"That's the one. Along with my battle."

"Well then." Ganon stood up and offered Laura his arm, "Shall we walk?"

"Ganon," She giggled, "We don't need to be there for another two hours."

"Who said we would be going straight there?" He said, kissing the back of her hand. She blushed and boys on nearby tables grimaced. He was making them look bad in front of their girlfriends. Ganon pulled her to her feet gently, and they walked off together hand in hand, prompting many rows between the other couples and causing about three break-ups.

* * *

"So how was your day? Did the training go well?" Ganon asked her as they sat down at an ice-cream parlour. The privacy it offered them was much better than the city campus, hence the reason why they'd moved. A waitress came up to them, and asked what they wanted, before wandering off again. Laura smiled. 

"This must be about the only place here that still gets served by hand."

"It probably is." Ganon mused. He didn't want to rush her answering, even though in any other case he'd argue for them to get to the point. Laura sighed and watched as the waitress came back with two cones of ice-cream, one red and one blue.

"That's seven dollars please." The waitress said, holding out a card reader. Ganon held the end of his card against it, and a red light winked green. The attendant nodded and walked off.

"I don't see why you always go for Strawberry." Laura asked, watching as Ganon began eating his ice cream. He looked up and smiled at her again.

"Oh come on. You know why I like strawberry."

"No I don't." She said playfully, "Why do you like Strawberry?"

"Because it's my favourite colour. Red." He said, looking back at Laura. Everything she ever wore was red; her long summer dress, her small shoes, even her soft hair was the beautiful shade of burgundy that he loved. Except her eyes. Deep amber eyes that he could lose himself in whenever he looked at her.

"So why do you love Blueberry so much?" Ganon asked her in the same playful tone.

"Hey! That's not fair!" She said laughing slightly. Ganon leant forwards and ran his thumb over her top lip. She shivered slightly until Ganon pulled back slightly to reveal that she had had an ice-cream moustache. She blushed as she hadn't noticed.

"You looked so cute with that, although I'm sure that no-one else would think so." He said softly. She sighed, before looking down at the table again.

"I really wish we could have been together more often." She said quietly. Ganon's face fell. He hated seeing her unhappy.

"Laura… I'm always here for you." He said in little more than a whisper as he put his arms around her. She sobbed heavily into his shoulder as Ganon nuzzled her gently.

"It's okay." He whispered into her ear, kissing her just underneath it. She pulled back and looked into his face.

"Well, I just worried about you. I got this terrible feeling that-" Ganon stopped her babbling by kissing her again. She relaxed into the kiss for a few moments, until he pulled away again.

"Well, Moxis should be arriving at the station with Kelvin soon. How about we go greet him?" He asked her. She beamed at him, a sight that made it all worthwhile for him.

"I'd love to."

* * *

"Hey Brock. What kind of Pokemon do you think that is?" Max asked, pointing at a strange bluish Pokemon walking through the crowd at the train station. It looked humanoid with a dogs head, like an Anubis. Everyone else turned to look in the direction where Max had pointed, but they all missed the Lucario. Ash shrugged and stepped onto an escalator. As they reached the bottom, a robot approached them. It appeared to be made up four small green boxes attached to a slightly larger box with a screen embedded in the front displaying a smiling face. It stopped at the bottom of the escalator, and detached the four green boxes, connecting them into a bar on top of its 'head'. 

"Welcome. You are now in Larousse City. Welcome again." The box robot chimed in a friendly, but obviously digitised voice.

"Cool!" Ash started.

"It's so cute!"

"A robot!" Max said, examining the contraption before him as it reformed its initial shape.

"What could be better than that?"

"Being greeted by a real life beautiful girl for one thing…" Brock moaned.

The robot floated up in front of May's face, a flap opening on front of the one remaining box on its top. A camera poked out from the recess.

"Smile!" It said, surprising May. The bulb flashed and May made a grotesque smile in shock. It moved on quickly to Max, Ash and Brock in turn before handing them small plastic cards with the photograph on it.

"These will serve as your passports. Whilst in Larousse City, please keep them with you at all times. Your passports can be used for shopping and other means." The machine said. May recoiled as she received her passport; the image attached to it looking like it belonged to a raving psychopath more than a travelling Coordinator. The machine flew off to their left and the group started walking towards the exit. A loud crunch could be heard from their left and they looked around to see the Lucario with its fist through the main screen of the robot.

"I'M A POKEMON. I DON'T NEED A GODDAMNED PASSPORT!" It bellowed watching the pieces of plastic float to the floor. A Sneasel next to it was shaking its head reproachfully. Surprisingly, it was bucktoothed. The Lucario looked around for a second, before grabbing the Sneasel by the wrist and belting out of the hall.

"Shneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeea-" Was all they heard before the two Pokemon left their line of sight. Ash was tempted to follow them, but Brock grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"Ash, we don't have time to follow those Pokemon. Don't you want to see the battle tower?"

"No. I want to conquer the battle tower!" Ash yelled dramatically. Everyone else sweat dropped.

"Do you really have to say it like that?" May asked. The only bonus to it was that it had completely emptied their coach on the train there. Now it was just getting them funny looks. It was Ash's turn to sweat drop. He calmed down and led them outside to a plaza just in front of the station. A Lucario and Sneasel were sat at the far end of the courtyard looking at a map, unnoticed by the group.

* * *

Ganon and Laura were stood together on the fast lane of a moving sidewalk. It was due to take them to the railway station where they could meet Moxis. 

"Anywhere you want to go after we've finished at this meeting? It should only take about half an hour."

"Surprise me." She said, still clinging onto his arm. He smiled as he saw the station roof peeking out from behind another city block.

"We're nearly there." He said. She pulled him around suddenly to face him, catching him off guard.

"Well I guess we'd better have one last kiss then before somebody sees." She said, planting her lips on his again. He pulled back after about thirty seconds, as she continued to smile at him.

"You always try and make out it's a naughty thing to do, don't you." He said. She continued playing with his hair.

"Well, you wouldn't just want everybody watching us now would you?"

"No. I suppose not." He answered looking back over his shoulder towards the station. A group of four people were just ahead of them, and there was someone else on the sidewalk going the other direction, although he was trying to run against the direction of the conveyor belt. A few snippets of conversation could be heard from just ahead.

"Dude! You're swimming upstream!" A guy with a slightly hippie voice said.

"There is an easier way." Said another speaker with a much sharper voice. Ganon recognised it as one of the boys from his class earlier. Rafe Johnson.

"Well maybe if I ever get off of this thing, maybe you can show it to me." The running boy panted. That was a voice he definitely recognised. Ash Ketchum. There was a loud thud as the boy landed flat on his face on the sidewalk. Ganon and Laura stepped onto the slow path just behind the group ahead of them to listen.

"Nice fall." The first guy said. It turned out he wasn't a hippy, as he was wearing a simple black T-shirt with yellow cargo shorts, and a silver dog-tag hanging from his neck. His black hair was held in place with a red sweatband, although his wide physique told Ganon he didn't run as much as the sweatband was supposed to suggest.

"Nice fall." Two smaller girls next to him mimicked. They looked like twins, one of them wearing pink, and the other wearing orange. They were both about eight. Rafe looked at Ganon behind him, and rather than heckle as he was inclined to, he took a Pokeball off of his belt and threw it into the air. No doubt it would save him from a detention. Ganon watched as it arced through the air, and a tall red and yellow Pokemon was released onto the path behind them. A Blaziken.

"Help him out Blaziken. Okay?" He asked. The Blaziken spun around on one heel, jumping into the air and landing besides the boy that had fallen over. The Pokemon picked him up, before jumping several times to bring him back to the rest of the group on the right side of the path. The large guy moved out of the way before the Blaziken almost landed on him, and the two girls started laughing. Ash resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath, before turning to Rafe.

"Hey. Thanks a lot." He said, still panting slightly. Rafe put his hands on his hips and smirked confidently.

"Sure. Don't thank me. I just couldn't continue watching you look like a fool." He answered back. Ash looked outraged, before falling backwards where the end of the conveyer met the tarmac at the end. Ganon walked over to his Pokemon in front of a robot showing a map of the area. The Lucario spun around and looked at him stony-faced.

"Well, I've brought the new guy; can I get some sleep now?" He said, gesturing to his Pokeball on Ganon's belt. Ganon was surprised.

"You're meaning to say you haven't slept at all on the way here?"

"The nerd wouldn't let me sleep." He said, gesturing to the Sneasel. Ganon scowled and returned both Pokemon, before turning around. Whilst everyone else was in some sort of conversation, Brock was staring at him. Ganon recognised something he had feared in the Breeders eyes.

Recollection.

* * *

Yep. My new Sneasel is a nerd. Hope you liked the introduction, but this is going to be my last update on anything until late January, due to having my A2 exams between 14/01/08 and 23/01/08. I can still reply to reviews, so if you've read this, REVIEW! 


	2. Take Them To The Tower

Haven't updated in absolutely ages, but I did have A2 exams to revise for and do. Still, they weren't as bad as I was expecting them to be. Not easy, but still better than a trip to the dentist.

As I was watching the video for this movie, I noticed another thing. Laura is actually in the original in the row in front of Brock, May and Max! Okay, it looks a little bit like Laura from the trainer card, but still it's cool to pretend. It still fits the clothes description pretty closely (i.e, red).

(Blows a party blower weakly) Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Usual Warnings and Disclaimers apply. I do own the council of Larousse city, and old Lemon-Face at reception. I also own the Hijacked robot. And as for warnings, old Lemon-Face is very sour, so his language may be crude at best.

_Lateral Ganon._

# # # Chapter Specific Notes # # #

_Italics are Ganon's telepathy._

_'Italics enclosed in quote marks are Laura's telepathy.'_

And for the plots sake, Ash hasn't noticed Ganon yet. He won't until next chapter. It was hard to say that in this one.

Yes the introductory paragraph is a little lame in my opinion, but I couldn't do any better.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Take Them To The Tower.**

Ganon quickly pulled Laura onto the moving sidewalk, and Brock followed them on. She looked back fearfully, before tugging for Ganon to hurry up. But he couldn't run past the group of the local trainers ahead of them without looking rude. It was an unspeakable taboo to run on the conveyer belt. Even walking quickly was frowned upon. Laura tugged harder on his arm, watching Brock approach them.

'_Forget about manners. That man knows what we are! We have to get out of here.'_ She said through her telepathy. Ganon looked at her ashamedly.

_But Laura… taboo._ He answered, although his inclination to run away was just as apparent. Laura squeaked as Brock stopped next to them. He bent towards Ganon and spoke in a low whisper. Ganon tensed up immediately, ready to knock the breeder aside and run anyway.

"Ganon… don't worry, they don't remember you, and I haven't told them." He said. He could tell that Ganon was relived at the news as the boy's shoulders eased up, and considering that as he was a psychic, the boy would know that he was telling the truth. Laura also seemed a little more at ease, but she was still edgy. That wasn't exactly a surprise though either.

"And why have you done this for me?" he asked calmly. Brock pulled a Pokeball from his belt, waving it gently. Laura bristled at the sight of it.

"This Ditto is amazing. You should see the line of Mudkips I've bred." He said calmly. Laura relaxed, for there was no distrust between Mudkip fans, and considering her starter had been a Mudkip, she was a fan. Ganon smiled as he sensed her appreciation, before turning back to Brock.

"Glad you liked it." He said, watching as Laura wandered over to talk to the twins ahead of them.

* * *

Ash looked at the red-head that suddenly strode past him before he was suddenly aware of someone else approaching on the fast lane next to them. 

"So we're finally going to settle this today, right Rafe?" The person asked. She looked to be in her early twenties, and had purple hair tied into a ponytail that had been tied back up to make a loop on the back of her head. She had glasses slightly bigger than Ganon's, although evidently these were real. Her pink t-shirt and dark jeans suggested she was an easygoing girl, but as she was rigidly typing on her laptop after she went past him, it was evident that she was a workaholic.

"Hello my bespectacled beauty! I'm Brock!" Brock said gormlessly as he tried to leap after her. He tried to jump onto the fast lane, but Max grabbed him by his ear, pulling him over backwards, forcing him to back-pedal to stop himself from falling over. The wide hippy voiced trainer looked on in shock, before coming up with a witty pun to try and flirt with May. "So I guess that your friend here has really fallen for Rebecca huh?" He said coolly. Showing surprising strength for such a young boy, Max yanked Brock backwards into line, his ear now red raw, "She's a good Metagross trainer, likes to use her laptop for strategy."

Ganon recognised the lady himself. She was one of the student assistants that helped at the university to help the new guys to settle in. It was her that had helped Ganon around for the first few days here, and more importantly, Laura's Tag-Battle partner for her match later, as evident by the fact that Laura had stepped onto the fast lane with her and they were currently deep in conversation. The wide hippy turned to May, pointing at himself with his thumb.

"So. My name's Sid. Blastoise is my partner." He announced as though it was something important.

"Hi. I'm May. And this is my brother Max." Sid decided to try and hit on her.

"Hmmmm. Hey. You're kinda cute!" He said, inspecting her face closely. May blushed, and Max gaped.

"Kinda?!" She said in wonder. Max smirked evilly and looked subtly away. He nudged his glasses mysteriously.

"And kinda crazy too!" He said menacingly. Ganon knew he'd heard enough. He stepped onto the fast lane, catching up with Laura. She looked back at him as he approached, pointing at the Battle tower.

"Some of the finest engineering on the earth." She said, gazing at the majestic building. It was in fact, the pinnacle of public construction. The main building itself was a cone with the point cut off very close to the top, and was made almost entirely of glass. Thin rivulets of steel ran between the huge panes, griddling the surface. Around the base of the cone was a shorter glass building, a large circle which ran around the building like a horseshoe. The battling stands being the former, the city offices being the latter.

"Well if you ask me," Rebecca started, closing her laptop, "I don't think it's that great. I've heard rumours of an even greater marvel built by Pokemon many years ago, with technology we can only dream of."

Ganon fidgeted awkwardly. He knew one of the Pokemon that helped to make what she was referring to. In fact, he was currently trying to sleep on his belt.

"Shame it's just a rumour. I'd love to see it." He lied. Laura nodded as well. Rebecca didn't notice the ploy.

"Hmmm… so what are we going to do about tactics then?" She asked Laura, bringing their conversation back to the imminent battle. Laura looked thrilled and broke into planning.

"Well then. I'll see you later." Ganon said, deviating off the path as they neared the building. Laura looked sad, but not too dismayed.

"Why can't you watch my battle?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Ganon was adjusting a blue silk bandanna around his forehead. It may not have suited him, but it wasn't designed to look good. He flipped down a small acrylic screen hidden in the folds, and hid it behind on of the lenses of his glasses. He snapped them together so they locked in place.

"I won't miss a bit of it." He said, tapping the glass. Laura smiled, but it was obviously pained.

"Just try not to take too long." She said, before kissing him on the cheek and walking into the main building. Ganon watched after her briefly, before entering through a side door into the main office block.

* * *

Laura and Rebecca hurried through the main foyer of the Battle Tower. It was practically a maze, with six floors all linked by about four escalators on each, hundreds of small shops crowding the walls, with stalls and vending machines scattered sporadically across the plaza. The block robots forming walls to display maps were hardly helping things along. But they were lost. No doubt about it. Even Rebecca as a local had a hard time getting through it all, and with only fifteen minutes to go before their battle, things were starting to look desperate. 

"Should we ask a robot?" Laura asked. Rebecca shook her head.

"We can't. All the robots here are allotted to display maps."

"Well," What she was about to suggest was highly inappropriate, and no doubt illegal, but she hardly had any other choice, "Could we hack one?"

Rebecca looked stunned, but had to admit it was the most likely thing to get them to their battle on time.

"Are you any good at it?" Rebecca asked carefully. Laura smirked knowingly and pulled a soldering iron as if from no-where. She twirled it expertly between her fingers.

"I'll take that as a yes. We're going to bag ourselves a block robot."

* * *

Ganon was wandering through the reception hall, when he could hear Laura's telepathy from somewhere inside the main building. 

'_Hey. Do you know the access code for the block robots?'_ She asked. Ganon raised his eyebrows in shock, although naturally she couldn't see them. He countered quickly.

_What colour is its face?_

'_Blue.'_

_Anything more specific?_

'_It's a sort of light blue with a weak green tinge.'_

_A map chief. Okay. Erm…_ _7, Y, delta, G, 5, 8, 3, epsilon, and heart._

'_But there are only eight gaps. You've given me nine symbols.'_

_The heart was for you to keep._ He answered her, smirking. The receptionist gave him a disapproving glare.

'_Oh stop being such a tease! Just promise you'll get down here soon.'_

_Will do._ He said finally before looking back at the receptionist. The wizened old man looked as though he was sucking a particularly sour lemon. Ganon smiled politely, matching the amount of distaste in the grimace of the clerk.

"Professor Darcy for the meeting with the council of investors." He said. The man's grimace tightened, before his lips curled into a sneer as he spoke.

"Third floor. Room 38C." He said in a low growl.

"Trouble with the wife?" Ganon asked, unable to resist. The old man held his middle finger up at him.

"Swivel. Be off with you, scumbag." He grunted. Ganon held up his hands mockingly, and backed towards the lift. The man's lips practically disappeared into his mouth with anger, before the doors closed and blocked him from sight. Ganon pressed the third floor button, and the lift began to make its ascent.

* * *

"There! Finished!" Laura said triumphantly, snapping the back of the robot shut with a slap, "He's now ours." 

"What does that mean?"

"Rebooting." The machine chimed from on the floor, before floating back up to their faces. It zoomed in close to Rebecca's face, causing her to lean backwards to try and avoid a complete collision. It then studied Laura's face carefully, before floating back down to waist level between them, "Registering users. Registration completed."

"What the hell was all that about?" Rebecca asked, cleaning her glasses on her shoulder. She dropped them as the robot suddenly pinged back into the air.

"So. You're the two they're looking for for the battle." The machine chimed.

"They've been looking for us?" Laura asked the robot. The block shook itself from side to side.

"No, I was just joshing you." It replied. Rebecca was past surprise.

"Since when have block robots had a personality?" She muttered to herself. The robot spun around to face her. The face on the screen gave her a scathing look.

"Dude. Mellow out a little." It said scathingly, before turning back to Laura. She immediately burst into question.

"How do we get to our battle?" The block robot floated backwards.

"Follow me then, dude and dude-ette." It said, before turning around and floating through a crowd of people. Rebecca glanced reproachfully at Laura before running after it.

* * *

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Ganon paused and inclined his head to a silver Metagross in the corner, "And indifferent." 

"Humph." He could hear it mumble from next to the chair of office, although anyone else would have heard 'Meh'. He continued regardless.

"I have come before you today to demonstrate-"

"We know what you're showing us." The owner of the Metagross and head of the council said sordidly. He may have been old and decrepit, with the halo of wiry grey hair encircling his probably waxed head, but he still commanded the entire office with an air of supreme dominance. Ganon frowned.

"As you command…" He said, refocusing one eye to check the progress of Laura's battle. It still hadn't started. Five minutes to go, he thought.

* * *

The robot was still leading them through the building when it stopped at a lift. 

"Straight to the bottom, Dude-ette." The robot said to Laura. She nodded and stepped into the lift with Rebecca, watching as the doors closed behind her. Rebecca checked her watch as the lift started to descend.

"We've got thirty seconds left, so we need to get a move on." She said. The lift doors dinged, and the doorway into the arena was wide open, various lights and dials adorning the surface around it. All of them, Laura could tell, were superfluous just to make it look good. They both dashed out to run down the corridor when two steel doors slid into the space, blocking access. A synthetic voice very much like the robot they'd hijacked briefly filtered through the little annexe.

"Entry for participants in the first round is closed. Please try again next time."

Both girls stared at a video screen above the doorway in shock.

"What?!"

"No way!! That was our place!" Laura yelled at the blockade.

"Hmmm… where do I recognise that boy from?" Rebecca mumbled, looking at a grey haired boy that had appeared on the monitor. Laura looked at the black haired boy next to it, and growled. Ash Ketchum had stolen her place.

* * *

"What the hell?!" Ganon yelled, clasping a hand over his left ear. Something important was buzzing through it. The council members looked at him shiftily. 

"What the hell what?" The chairman asked ruefully. Ganon looked back up at him, recognising the sarcasm.

"Something's come up." He said, pulling two Pokeballs from his belt. He released Moxis and Kelvin from there pokeballs, and they stood obediently in front of him, even if the bags around the Lucario's eyes were painfully evident.

"Okay you two, can you finish off this demo for me?" He asked them quietly. Moxis rolled his eyes.

"Can a Ditto transform?" He asked rhetorically. Ganon smiled and turned to the Sneasel, awaiting an answer from him.

"Sure, I guess. But don't expect some corny quote from me." Kelvin said, hissing slightly from his buck teeth. Ganon thanked them both, before preparing to make his excuses.

"I shall be leaving you with my two best Pokemon," The Sneasel swelled with pride, "who will continue the presentation for you. Something's come up that-"

"We've seen enough. We're not going to invest." The chairman said coldly.

"So this meeting is over?" He asked hopefully, returning both Pokemon. The Sneasel sighed at the waste of time as he was sucked back in, whilst Moxis settled back to continue sleeping.

"There are more important matters for us to deal with rather than this drivel." The man said, rising in his chair. The other members of the council stood up with him, but Ganon remained seated. The chairman scowled.

"It's a social obligation to stand up when the head of the council stands up." He said. Ganon shrugged.

"But your Metagross hasn't stood up." He pointed out. The Metagross blinked in annoyance at being brought into the conversation. The chairman looked down at the Metagross by his side.

"Well of course he doesn't have to stand up. He's a Pokemon." He said angrily. Ganon smirked and stood up, wandering over to the door again at the annoyance of the council.

"Then I'm glad we see eye to eye on the matter." He called back smirking, before running down the corridor.

* * *

Brock, May and Max had already found some seats in the stands, and were accompanied by both of Rafe's sisters. They were bickering like… well… schoolgirls. 

"Who do you thing they're going to put up against our Rafe?" One of them started. The other one looked back smugly.

"I already know, because he told me." She said, causing her counterpart to gawp at her.

"Tell me!"

"Alright. Rafe and Sid are gonna battle those two girls we saw earlier. Rebecca and Laura."

Brock picked up on the word Laura.

"Hold on you two. Did you say they're battling Laura?" He asked them.

"Well duh!" They both chimed in together. Brock looked away angrily. Pre-teens, he reasoned, should be taught some manners. The two girls resumed their conversation.

"How long do you reckon they'll be in hospital for?"

"I think they'll have to keep them in a matchbox."

"GRRRAAAAARRGGH!" Brock screamed, pulling at his hair in anger, earning several disturbed looks from the rows ear him, which edged away subtly. The outburst also made him noticeable to two girls that had just entered the stands from a lift at the top of them. Rebecca groaned in annoyance.

"Oh great. It's the pervert again." She muttered. Laura sighed and walked forwards to sit with the group, Rebecca resentfully following behind.

* * *

Two boys were suddenly raised onto the battle floor from a hydraulic piston that pushed its way through the floor. Ash Ketchum looked around at the sumptuous arena, marvelling that he was privileged enough to battle in it. The field was circular, patterned with a design of a Pokeball in red and blue. In the centre of each half was a smaller Pokeball patterned the same way which decorated the top of the piston they'd arrived on. Surrounding the field was a pit lit from the bottom by thousands of halogen lights, making it impossible to see the bottom of them. About level with the battling surface on the other side of the moat was a series of hexagonal screens, all facing towards the centre of the arena, looking for the entire world like a flat ring of honeycomb. Above the screens were the main bodies of the stands, the darkness around them accentuating every action in the battle without the distraction of other spectators. Above them was a red-haired man in something that resembled a cradle which flew around. Evidently he was the commentator, judging by the bizarre futuristic clothes he was wearing and a microphone hooked around his jaw. He listened in on what he was calling to the crowds. 

"Our first match will be an official Battle-Tower Tag-Team event! Remember to cheer for your favourites!"

"Tag team huh? Yeah!" He said to himself, relishing the challenge. The commentator continued.

"We have Ash Ketchum in the Blue corner. A trainer all the way from Pallet Town!"

Ash looked ahead to see his own face plastering the multitude of screens. Vanity ruled supreme in this city.

"And his tag partner Tory, a local trainer."

Ash looked across to see the boy he'd accidentally dragged in with him. He looked about eight or nine, maybe ten at a stretch, with silver hair that reminded him of the gym leader Winona. The hair curled around his face like the flight helmet, with two little tufts from each side. He wore white jeans and a cyan jumper. However ever since he'd been dragged into the arena, he was looking panicky and fearful. Several times he'd glanced at Ash's Pikachu and recoiled. Ash thought nothing of it.

"Alright Tory, good luck!" He said encouragingly. The boy looked at him as though he was dazed.

"I wonder how Ash got entered so quickly." May said just as Rebecca and Laura arrived at the end of their row. Rebecca sidestepped in to sit next to her.

"By cutting in front of us." She said sourly. Laura sat down next to her as Rebecca opened her laptop. However Brock's girly senses were tingling. He looked across and saw Rebecca, instantly turning into his full attention to her. He bent down on one knee in front of her as though he was about to propose to her. She looked up in shock from the laptop.

"Rebecca. There comes a time in a man's life when he's presented with the gift of love at first sight." He said, oblivious to Max reaching over his shoulder. He yelped as he felt the hand wrench his ear back.

"How about pain at first pull?" Max said calmly, causing the twins to burst into small fits of giggles.

"Not the… ear…" Brock stammered out in pain. Laura looked over at the pitiful scene next to her, and couldn't help laughing.

"Love at first sight is one of the greatest labour saving devices the world has ever seen. It just helps to read the manual first." She said. Rebecca laughed slightly, but noticed something.

"How come he isn't attracted to you? You're easily prettier."

"He has more refined taste." She suggested. Rebecca looked back at the struggling wannabe breeder, trying to escape from the kid wrenching his ear, and could tell he was anything but refined.

* * *

"And in the red corner, we have two trainers from South City. Rafe and Sid!" The commentator continued. Another piston rose into the arena, carrying the aforementioned trainers into the fray. Both were standing confidently as they arrived, both naturally at home in the arena. Sid was scanning the crowd looking for any familiar faces, whilst Rafe looked straight at the opponent before him. 

"Hey Ash. You sure didn't waste any time." He called over haughtily.

"Of course not! I couldn't wait to beat you." He answered back, reflecting the arrogance. Sid had started jumping up and down having just noticed a face he recognised. Even more important, it was someone he'd been hitting on.

"Hey May! Make sure you watch! I'm dedicating this battle to you!" He shouted up, finishing with a smarmy wink. She recoiled and the twins started laughing at her reaction. It seemed pretty much anything could set them off.

"They remind me of us when we were their age." Someone said from next to Laura, causing her to jump. She looked around to see Ganon smiling gently at her, and she threw her arms around his neck.

"So you would have been able to watch my battle!" She said, nuzzling his face passionately. Ganon smiled awkwardly into her shoulder.

"I thought you loved battling. It would be a shame to miss something like this." He said comfortingly. She pulled back teasingly.

"Well, it would be a shame to pass up on a chance to scout out a prospective opponent." She said, sitting back properly to watch the battle, although every movement she made was calculated to tease him. He smiled as he turned around to watch the challenge too.

* * *

"The basic rule in all tag-team battles is teamwork! Each trainer uses a single Pokemon and works with his team-mate. And now… Trainers! Bring out your Pokemon!" 

Rafe and Sid both pulled a Pokemon from each of their belts, making a show of throwing them into the field. Rafe released a Blaziken, which stretched and readied itself for battle, whilst Sid released a Blastoise, which mirrored its trainers love for posing by throwing its arms wide and shouting to the arena. Ash leant forwards slightly to allow Pikachu to jump down to the ground and scamper ahead. He turned to face his battle partner.

"Tory. What Pokemon are you going to use?" He asked. Tory looked like he'd been hit in the stomach, blanching and backing away, holding his hands ahead of him as though to bat away insects.

"No Ash, I don't have any Pokemon." He said, his voice trembling slightly. Pikachu looked back questioningly when he didn't notice another Pokemon join him.

"There seems to be a problem. We've seen only one Pokemon from the blue corner." The commentator announced. Laura grimaced. This kid was wasting time.

"See… I was trying to tell ya. I'm _not a_ _trainer_. I can't battle" Tory continued.

"But this could end up being my only chance to battle Rafe." Ash muttered to himself. Then it seemed Ash had been struck by a brainwave.

"Hey I know what! I'll loan you one of my Pokemon. What do you say?" He said, walking over to him and offering the Pokeball with both hands, causing Tory to protest, but Ash stopped him, "Come on. That'll work."

Tory hesitantly accepted the Pokeball, as the commentator swooped lower to try and see the action better. His levitator was restricted by a shield that stopped him getting in the way of any flying Pokemon that could use the arena.

"Will the blue corner forfeit?" He said. Ganon noticed Laura's left eyebrow twitching erratically, and could tell she was holding herself in check. He knew first-hand how passionate she got about Pokemon battles. He touched her elbow gently, and she looked back at him, calming down slightly.

"Don't let me down Tory." Ash said, standing back in a fighting stance to face Rafe. The boy looked back to see Ash watching him intently, and snapped shut a cell-phone he was using to call someone in the stands. Tory looked down at the Pokeball cupped in his hands awkwardly.

"Well if I have to." He said, hurling the Pokeball unceremoniously into the field. A Torkoal burst out of the Pokeball next to Pikachu, before rearing back its head and blowing out jets of black smoke from its nose and shell top, causing Pikachu to cough and splutter. The Commentator rose back into the air, looking hopeful once again, whilst Laura mocked hitting her head against a wall. Ganon could understand her annoyance. Sending a Pokemon out when he knew it had a type disadvantage… might as well have let Kelvin use Sheer Cold on it.

"Oh! It looks like we have our Pokemon! Ready for a battle, cos here we go!"

* * *

Strangers in the night is becoming a little problematic, but I should get that up within about two-three weeks. 

And I've cut it off just before the big battle. Aren't I so evil?


	3. The Heat of Battle

Sorry for not being able to update for a while, but I had major writers block on all of my stories. Even swapping over to animating for a while didn't sort it. But I found something to clear it up. I've seen Rise Of Darkrai! It was a subbed Japanese version which I couldn't read occasionally, but man it's good. It's a shame a great joke is likely to be lost on the translation, but I digress. Listen out for the_ Oración_. It is absolutely amazing. I've been listening to it almost non-stop all day.

I updated three stories at once. That's what took so long for another installment. That and Veoh though it would be funny to delete my copy of this movie. Grrrrrrr.

_Lateral Ganon_

# # # **Chapter Specific Notes **# # #

_Regular italics are Ganon's telepathy_

_'Italics bounded by quotes are Laura's telepathy'_

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Heat of Battle**

Rafe leapt into the battle with practiced precision.

"Let's do this! Blaziken. Use Blaze Kick now!" He ordered. The Blaziken nodded briskly, building flares around it's wrist as it focused its power. The Pokemon leapt high into the air and somersaulted, pointing it's now burning heel directly at Ash's Team.

"Dodge Pikachu!" He called out. The electric mouse leapt out of the way just before the searing heel drove itself into his skull. However Torkoal, having been given no orders from Tory, took the full brunt of the attack; his face pressed into the ground. Pikachu leapt up, intending to thundershock the Blaziken without further adding to Torkoal's pain. What he didn't count on was the Blaziken's partner.

"Go Blastoise! Hydro Pump!" Sid ordered, showing remarkable alacrity for someone so apparently easy-going. The Blastoise cocked his right shoulder cannon, taking careful aim, before blasting Pikachu with a highly pressured barrage of water. The jet barely clipped Pikachu, but was still more than sufficient to spin him out and send him hurtling painfully to the ground. He bounced twice on impact, sliding backwards about a metre. Ganon nudged Laura gently.

"You saw how the Blaziken backed off quickly when Blastoise revealed the cannons, didn't you?" He asked her quietly. She smiled.

"You think they're related?"

"Without a doubt. I'll ask him later."

Torkoal winced when he saw the amount of pain his partner was in, and looked back pleadingly at Tory. The boy recoiled under his gaze and Ash glared at him in annoyance. Before either of them could recover, Sid shouted another command.

"Blastoise, Bubble attack!"

The overgrown turtle bared its jaws and belched out a stream of bubbles at the Torkoal, taking full advantage of the weakness to water. The beam hit the small turtle square in the face, the force from the bubbles sufficient to throw his head around as though he was being punched. Again, Sid was demonstrating that they were both stronger than they looked. Ash gaped at the pounding that Torkoal was receiving, but quickly came to his senses. There was still a chance to turn the match around.

"Tory. You have to tell Torkoal to do something!"

"But… I don't know what to tell it." He answered. Laura growled in her seat, before standing up and yelling into the arena.

"USE PROTECT, SMOKESCREEN, THEN IRON TAIL!" She tried to bellow through the pandemonium of the stands. From the arena, it was impossible to discern the advice from the thousands of chants, calls, jeers, and whooping from the crowd.

"Blastoise Rapid Spin!" Sid called out. The Blastoise tucked his limbs into his shell, pushing himself around with his last hind leg quickly, before spinning straight at Ash's team. Tory dropped his jaw in a mixture of shock and fear as the Blastoise hurtled straight through the Torkoal, hurling it across the stage, before it continued on straight towards him. Everything seemed to slow down as the spinning shell mad its way towards him, and he made a terrifying connection in his minds eye.

Four years ago. Herds of stampeding Walrien and Sealeo. Huge Pokemon fleeing past him a matter of inches away from him. Trapped in place by a slab of ice behind him, and the sides blocked by the scything tusks of more Walrien.

He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, turning away to try and brace the inevitable impact which would surely kill him. Ganon noticed the movement, and clutched Laura' hand instinctively. She gave him a taunting look, before turning back to the battle.

The Blastoise punched its limb back out of its shell, stopping its spin just before him. He watched the Torkoal landed on its back on the ground in front of him, and leapt back, ready to deliver a finishing water blast. Ash wasn't about to let that happen.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt! Cover Torkoal!" He yelled, hoping top give the turtle enough time to recover. Pikachu obliged, jumping to block Torkoal from the Blastoise, and unleashed thousands of volts of electricity through the Blastoise, the current coursing through the water in the Pokemon, and rendering it immobile. That was the plan anyway. The Blaziken jumped across and dipped a claw into the flow of current just before Pikachu could build the bolt to full power, earthing the jolt, before unleashing a flamethrower at the mouse and turtle. Pikachu leapt into the air, quickly proving to be its downfall.

"Blastoise! Skull Bas Go!"

The Blastoise rushed forwards faster than his lumbering bulk would suggest, head butting Pikachu in midair. The combined momentum of Pikachu's own dodge and the Blastoise cranium was too much for the mouse, hurling it backwards like a living missile at the Torkoal, which having just been able to find it's feet again, was aghast at being toppled over again, rolling an landing on it's back. Pikachu was in a much less comfortable position, as the roll had left him underneath the Torkoal, crushing him. Tory shielded his face from the dust cloud that was thrown up, whilst Ash just blinked it out.

"Looks like the blue corner just can't seem to get it together as a team." The commentator said disdainfully. The twins were laughing happily for their brother's obvious advantage.

"Man. Ash's partner isn't doing anything to help him out at all. I don't see how he could win." Max said disappointedly. May felt her anger simmering, and considering that Laura had let it be known, she decided she might as well do the same.

"Come on! Do something!" She shouted at the arena. Rebecca just continued typing on her laptop. Nothing was able to shock her anymore now.

Ash seemed to have heard this comment, and rushed forwards.

"Tory, don't worry. I'll take care of it." He said quietly, "Flamethrower Torkoal, go!"

Pikachu heaved until the Torkoal was pushed off his back, falling flat on his front from the effort. The Torkoal however, now vertical again, reared back his head and belched out a stream of flame at the opponents.

Pikachu thought he could smell something burning, and about a second later, he realised what and leapt up. When he'd fallen onto his front, his tail had remained stuck up in the air, right in the middle of Torkoal's flamethrower. He hopped about madly to extinguish the smouldering appendage and waved it to remove the soot.

"Oh! A flamethrower from Torkoal, but it hit Pikachu!" The commentator continued. Torkoal heard the announcement, and looked down to see that he had burnt the Pikachu. He threw his head back in shame and cried rivulets of tears onto the floor, and blew long streams of black smoke out of his nostrils with a sound like a train whistle. Pikachu had the misfortune of being caught in another impromptu smokescreen, and coughed heavily. Ash pulled his hand over his face in shame, whilst Rafe brushed his fringe aside with his fingertips.

"How embarrassing." He said coolly. Sid had his arms folded behind his head, and looked at Rafe out of one eye.

"So Rafe, wanna finish this one up?" He asked calmly. Judging by the state of the Pikachu and the Torkoal, they could finish it up anytime. It just depended on how much they wanted to humiliate Ash, although judging by the Pokemon he had, he'd been humiliated enough already. Rafe nodded in agreement.

"Let's go. Blaziken. Overheat!" He called out dramatically. The Blaziken reared back and loosed a heavily focused stream of flame at both the opponents. The fireball swarmed around the two, the heat enough to melt steel, and the floor of the arena exploded, hurling both Pokemon back to Ash, thoroughly defeated. Ash rushed forwards to tend to the Pokemon's wounds.

"That's it! Pikachu and Torkoal are unable to battle! Rafe and Sid are the winners! Congratulations!" The commentator called out to the crowd, applause ringing from every stand as the piston carrying Ash and Tory descended back underneath the arena. Rafe was waving regally to the entire audience, whilst Sid just waved both arms crudely towards May trying to attract her attention. May put a palm over her face in embarrassment. Laura turned back to face Ganon.

"He could easily have turned that around. All it would have taken was a rock slide from Tork-" She was cut off as Ganon kissed her on the lips, this time to shut her up. Left to her own devices, she'd have pointed out everything that Ash had done wrong, and having just seen the battle himself, she would have been ranting aimlessly for hours. He hated seeing her embarrass herself like that.

_Laura, we both know what a mess he made of it._

'_But if he'd used rockslide, the Blaziken would be down in one, and a full blown thunder would-'_

_Have taken down the Blastoise._

'_Exactly!'_

_So how would you have taken down the Blastoise?_

'_Mist ball.'_ She teased.

_I'll rephrase that. How would Maria have taken down the Blastoise?_

'_Attract and Seismic toss.'_

_How does that work?_

'_First, she makes him dim and gormless, and then she throws him straight into the pit at the edge. One hit knockout.'_

Ganon opened his eyes in surprise.

_Genius. Absolute genius._

He could feel her smiling into the kiss as she answered.

'_Of course.'_

_Laura, I need to breathe._ He said. She laughed telepathically, and pulled back, laughing again as Ganon took a deep breath. They moved onto the central stairway leading back up to an elevator, and Rebecca ran up to them both. She nodded to Ganon before talking fervently to Laura again.

"We need to schedule a rematch with those two at the counter downstairs, I was thinking-" Her voice faded out as they wandered off, and Ganon found himself next to Brock again.

"So Laura's a trainer too." He said, "How about you come with us for a while?"

"What?" Ganon asked incredulously.

"Hey Brock. Who are you talking to?" May asked, peering around his shoulder to get a better look at the boy. Brock spun around.

"Just an old friend of mine." He said quickly, causing Ganon to glower at him evilly. Max looked up to see what all the commotion was about, and noticed Ganon's glare.

"He doesn't look like an old friend. He's looking at you like May looks at me when I show any of her prospective boyfriends a photo of her when she's just woken up." Max said. Ganon smirked as he saw his expression mirrored perfectly on May as she scowled at her brother.

"You sill have that photo?!" She bellowed at him. He laughed and jumped up the stairs.

"Of course! Any zoo that takes you will need to know what they're letting themselves in for!" He called down. May bellowed and pelted after the youngster. Brock face-faulted and followed after them, and after a few seconds hesitation, Ganon joined him.

* * *

The lift doors opened, and Ash and Tory stepped into a departure lounge for losers. What made it even more oppressive was the fact that there was no-one else there. Both kids stepped out broodily, and began walking across the open floor in silence towards the exit. 

"Tory!" Someone shouted from their left, accompanied by the quick patter of footsteps. They both looked up to see a middle aged man with greying hair in a style that looked like a refined version of Tory's in a black suit, and a woman about the same age with brown hair in a short ponytail over one shoulder, wearing black trousers and a smart white jacket.

"Huh? Daddy."

"We just watched your Pokemon battle. I'm incredibly proud!" he said, holding his arms stiffly as though to hug him, then thinking better of it. May, Max, Brock and Ganon arrived on a balcony overlooking the area. Upon hearing the noise below, they looked over the edge to investigate.

"Don't be. It was all an accident. It wasn't even supposed to happen." Tory replied sullenly, looking at his feet. He closed his eyes briefly, before running out of the room underneath the balcony, and into the open air outside. Everyone watched as the boy ran off in tears, before the group on the balcony walked down an escalator to join Ash on the losing floor.

"What happened out there?" May asked Ash, "It was all going so well until-"

"The battle started." Max mumbled quietly. Ganon smiled weakly at the jibe, whilst Ash winced.

"Yeah. It did kind of slide downhill from then. But I could have picked it up any time I wanted if I'd-"

"Had Torkoal use Rockslide on the Blaziken, and a full on Thunder on the Blastoise. Yeah, we know." Ganon interrupted. Ash blinked and looked at Ganon. For some reason he reminded him of someone, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked. Ganon shook his head.

"No, I don't believe we've met. I'm Professor Ganon Darcy." He lied offering a hand. Ash took the proffered hand, and shook it lightly. The man looked at his assistant.

"I've got to get back to work. If you could tie up ends here Yuko."

"Right." She said. She watched as the man ran out of the building, before turning back to the trainers.

"This is going to take a while, so maybe you'd be more comfortable taking this conversation somewhere else." She suggested, walking over to the doorway and waiting for the rest to follow.

* * *

"Yuko. Meeting you reminds me of a time in my life when I too spent long hours toiling as a professors assistant. I'm sure professor Ivy would be proud to vouch for my work." Brock said as Ganon brought a tray of coffees to the table. Max grabbed Brocks ear and dragged it down to his level. 

"And I'll be happy to vouch for his insanity." He said. Ganon licked off the foam moustache he'd got from his cappuccino.

"Thank god I didn't get an assistant like him. How she got any insurance firms to cover her lab is anyone's guess." He said quietly.

Yuko gave Brock a motherly look at the bad attention he was getting, before turning to Ash sat next to him.

"We apologise for the mix-up with your battle. The truth is, Tory is completely afraid of Pokemon." She said. Ganon looked over at them both.

"How could he be afraid of Pokemon?" He asked. Ganon growled to himself. Ash always asked simple questions with hideously long or boring answers.

"Well, about four years ago, he had a very traumatic experience, and it left him terrified of them. Sadly, he still hasn't been able to get over those fears."

A touching image formed itself behind Ash's eyes, a small boy walking between a row of fountains; no comforting weight on his shoulder, no Pokemon to while away the hours with, no friend to love. To all intents and purposes, totally alone in the world.

* * *

In actual fact, Tory was pretty much doing exactly that. He was walking on a path between a quite large water feature on one side, and a bank of trees on the other, watching the pavement drift past him as he walked along it. He settled on a block made to hold up a railing at the side of the pond to wallow in his loneliness. A red and yellow creature bounded up a short distance away from him, before bouncing up onto the railing next to him. The Pokemon tugged at the sleeve of his arm squeaking in alarm. Tory looked up absently at the commotion, and recoiled as he saw the Plusle, almost pushing the tiny Pokemon into the lake in his desperation to get away. 

"Shoo! Shoo!" He cried, holding his hands out to fend it away. The Plusle continued to look at him, and squeaked more urgently, running further along the pavement to an overturned bin. The back end of a Minun was sticking out of the top from under the lid, trapped in place. The Plusle squeaked at it in reassurance before squeaking back at Tory to get him to help. Tory looked at it, unsure what to do.

* * *

"Wow… I shouldn't have pushed him so hard." Ash said, blaming himself for his actions in the arena earlier. 

"But underneath it all, I think he loves them. All he really needs is the chance to get to know them. That's all."

"I'm sure that's all it will take." May said, pondering the circumstances. Ash stood up dramatically.

"Fine. Then I'll give him that chance. All he needs now is to become friends with me and Pikachu. Right pal?" He said, stroking the Pikachu's face on his shoulder.

"YAY! I wanna help too! Max said, holding his arms out in the air."

"So do I." May added.

"Me too." Brock said finally. Ash looked at Ganon expectantly. He leant back on his chair.

"Might as well. It'll be a laugh I guess." He said.

"Cool. So what do you say we all go and look for Tory okay?" He said.

"Yeah!" They all shouted together. Except Ganon that said it normally.

"You're awfully kind. Thank you. Especially a master taking the time out to help him." Yuko said, her eyes almost brimming with tears as she looked at Ganon. He smiled awkwardly, and scratched the back of his head.

"Err… yeah… any time." He said. He wasn't used to his status actually being known, considering he specialised in sciences rather than battling as most other Masters preferred to.

* * *

Tory meanwhile, had wrenched a branch off a tree, and was using it like a crowbar to pry open the lid of the bin. The lid suddenly gave way, and the trapped Minun fell out. The Plusle looked over the Minun, glancing over it until it was satisfied that she was okay, before they both put their tails together, causing a small shower of sparks. Their equivalent of a secret handshake, Tory mused as he watched them, fascinated. He smiled. Maybe Pokemon weren't so bad. 

Then they just had to ruin it by jumping up onto the bin right next to his face. His hair stood on end but as long as they stood where they were, there wasn't a problem with it.

The Minun made a jump for his face.

He screamed and back-pedalled away from the Pokemon, causing it to land on the ground in front of him.

"Err! Um… Later!" He called out to them, before sprinting away. The two Pokemon watched him as he ran off, both of them confused. Ash made his way down the steps to chase after him.

"Come on. He's no fun if he doesn't want to play with us." The Minun said.

"Yeah. I know! More rubbish bin trampolines!" Plusle said. The Minun ran off.

"Last one there's a Slowpoke!" It called back.

"I don't wanna be the Slowpoke!!" The Plusle called as he ran after her.

Ash was wandering back towards the coffee shop when he noticed a red and blue shape moving erratically out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see the Plusle and the Minun, and more importantly, Tory. He dashed down a nearby stairway to chase after him.

* * *

Tory slowed down to a walk as he entered Silicon Plaza. It was the home-place of his father's laboratory, and the security was paramount. A sentry block robot approached him. 

"Passport please." It chimed, presenting an interface for Tory's passport to register. Tory held up the chip to the card reader, and waited as the robot processed it.

"Passport rejected." The robot chimed. Tory looked at it in shock.

"No way!! I live here! I'm one of the defaults on the database! Tory Lund, son of Professor-"

"Jeez. Keep your hair on. I was only joshing you." The robot said, making a sad face on its screen. Tory scowled at it, "Hostility detected. Evacuate immediately!" The robot shouted, flying off ridiculously fast. Tory watched after the robot disappeared, and continued on towards the Botanical Gardens. Ash saw him, and continued to follow him.

* * *

"And so even if you were in the battle instead of those two losers, you'd still have been trashed." Rafe was bragging to an irate Rebecca. The twins underfoot were hardly helping matters. 

"Totally trashed!" They chimed in.

"Then we'll reschedule a match." Rebecca roared at him. Sid looked at her.

"Any time to look good for the ladies I'm fine with." He said, winking at Laura. She scowled at him.

"Don't even think about it lard-arse." She said warningly.

"Save the trash talk to the match, okay?" Rafe said, writing something on a piece of paper, "Tomorrow then, two-thirty. Don't be late again." He said snidely.

* * *

Tory presented his passport to a reader next to a glass doorway opening to the greenhouse. With the unbiased sensor accepting it readily, the doors opened and let him into the gardens. This building was maintained with a tropical atmosphere inside, with the main floor about ten metres below the surface of the ground. In the main floor of the arboretum, rare and exotic plants, where growing. A small artificial river snaked though between some of the trees, pooling into a pond cut into the centre of the room. Tory made his way down to a paved patio next to the lake, and began calling something. 

"Hey! Come on out! Where are you? I want to tell you something important!" He shouted. It was almost as though he was calling a Pokemon, but of course being a Pokephobe, he was terrified of them.

A small patch of air distorted next to a landscaped waterfall feeding the pond, becoming a shimmering patch of tiny green lights, like the stars in a galaxy. It was similar in shape to a Metapod, but it was fluid and manipulated itself into various shapes as it approached Tory. He gasped in wonder at some of the new forms it was making, before holding his hands out as though to pick it up. The light moved between his hands, although it could never truly be touched. It chimed quietly.

"You'll never guess what I just did, I helped out a Pokemon! Cos it had its head stuck inside a garbage can and so I helped it get it out. Isn't that cool?"

The sparkles twisted into an S shape, which Tory knew to be a yes, and he laughed.

* * *

High in the sky of Larousse city, a bright purple aurora burst out of a point on the top of the battle tower, spreading across the entire city. It was remarkably beautiful, and an awe inspiring sight. Everyone in the city that could see it stopped in their tracks, including Laura and Rebecca. Rebecca was spellbound. 

"Laura, what do you… Laura?"

Laura was staring through the glass roof at the aurora, totally unaware of anything else happening around her. For all the world, in a trance.

'_Ganon. Are you seeing this?'_

_The Calling? Definitely._

'_That's the Duke's signature isn't it.' _he said. She could feel that Ganon nodded.

_No doubt about it._

'_What's it say? All I can read is friend.'_

_Then you've done a better job than me. I can't read anything from it. He's shouting like mad, and I can't make heads or tails of it. HQ warned me about this. They told me they saw the Duke on the satellite feed._

'_They saw him? He's too small to be seen on the scopes.'_

_Well, detected him would be more accurate. He's wearing a really outdated tourist Visa._

'_Where are you?'_

_Just outside the Battle Tower._

'_Great. I'll meet you outside then.'_

_Okay._

Laura looked across to see Rebecca glaring at her.

"What were you doing?" She asked irritably. Laura smiled at her.

"Just talking to someone about this. He's waiting for me outside." She answered, before turning to leave. Rebecca jumped after her.

"There's no way you're leaving me behind. You know something don't you." She said, her voice laden with suspicion. Laura nodded.

"You catch on fast don't you? Come on then. If there's anything I can do, its run." She called back as she tore away from her. Rebecca snapped her laptop shut, and tucked it under her arm, pelting after her.

* * *

Tory, still totally unaware of any atmospheric anomalies, was still talking to the sparkling light. He was sat at the edge of the spring, dipping his feet in the water. 

"And I was even part of a Pokemon battle too. Course, I wasn't very good, so that part kinda stunk."

"Hey. Who are you talking to?" Ash called from a balcony that ran along the level of the surface ground. Tory spun around and looked at the intruder, shielding the light from view with his back. The sparks faded out into thin air behind him, and unknown to either of them, the aurora cloaking the city dissipitated.

"Nothing!" Tory shouted, grabbing his shoes and tying them up quickly.

"I'm only asking."

"And I don't want to tell you." Tory said, walking back up the stairs to leave. He pressed a button to open the doors, and steeped back into the plaza.

"Come on. Who was it?" Ash persisted, following the youngster.

"None of your business!"

"What? Would it hurt to tell me?"

"Ugh! Stop! Leave me alone okay?!" Tory said angrily, before trying to run away from Ash.

"Hey wait a minute!" Ash called as he ran after him. Tory looked over his shoulder to see the boy still chasing him, causing him to run through a set of scaffolding occupied by a flock of Wingull. They cried in alarm, swarming up into the sky, causing him to spin around quickly and lose his balance. He screamed and fell over painfully.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked, running over to help him. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder to look at Tory himself.

Pikachu squeaked, and Tory opened his eyes to see the Pokemon right in his face. He screamed and pushed hard against Ash's chest in an effort to get away, shoving Ash roughly to the ground. He stopped a metre away from the Pikachu, staring at it petrified. Ash picked himself up from the ground, and grabbed the boy by the collar of his jumper.

"Gee thanks (!) Why did you have to go and push me?" He shouted at the helpless boy.

"Ash, stop!" A girl shouted from somewhere behind Tory. May dashed in and pushed Ash away from the boy, "Don't start something!"

"Okay." Ash said apologetically. Tory looked away from the group around him shamefully.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked them. Ash stepped forwards.

"I wanted us to become friends."

"So your idea of friendship is trying to punch me?" Tory asked quietly. May took the opportunity to argue their cause.

"That's just temper getting the better of him. He's not really as bad as you think he is. He's really sweet when you get to know him."

Ash blushed at May's compliment, and Max's glasses whited over again suggesting another scathing remark was imminent.

"And May's a magician with food. She's just turned Ash into a beetroot." He said cheekily. May glared at her brother evilly, and Ash's blush turned an even deeper shade of scarlet. Brock pulled Max away from May before a fistfight ensued.

"If you want, you can come visit us at the PokeCentre anytime. We're staying there all week, so if you want to find us anytime, you can ask…" Brock's eyes turned into hearts, "The lovely nurse Joy that I love so much and-"

Max reached up and grabbed both of Brocks ears; pulling the breeder over backwards and making his ears resemble Pikachu's.

"Terrified them every time we've met one." Max finished. Ash and May face-palmed simultaneously.

"And he wasn't even near a Joy that time." May groaned. Tory burst out laughing, clutching his sides trying to control himself as released the ears allowing Brock to ricochet forwards. Pikachu looked up at the now Pika-fied breeder and groaned. It looked like the worlds worst hall of mirrors set up.

* * *

And this is probably quite an awkward place to finish it. But If I didn't stop it now, I'd be obliged to include a much longer event which is the equivalent length of another chapter. 


	4. Searchlight

Its been absolutely ages since I've made a story update, so it was about time I got a new chapter up. Most of this chapter I've had waiting for ages, with only the last paragraph really needing to be added before it was ready to be uploaded.

Unfortunately, I think I've got the talking/action balance a bit messed up sometimes in this chapter.

# # # Chapter Specific Notes # # #

_Italics are Ganon's telepathy._

_'Italics in quotaion marks are Laura's Telepathy.'_

Some parts later in this chapter are reliant on having read _The Guardian Father_.

This chapter contains the brief Altoshipping.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Searchlight**

Laura stepped out onto the tower forecourt, watching as Ganon ran over to her. He grabbed her in his arms, and swung her around him, causing her to squeal in delight.

"Ganon! It's only been an hour!"

"When you're stuck with Ash, it feels much longer."

"What did he get himself involved with this time?"

"The kid that screwed up his battle. Oh jeez!" Ganon slapped himself in the face, "I was supposed to help look for-"

A block in his pocket started rumbling. He looked at it in confusion, before pulling it out. It was a small snap-top phone with more than a few modifications. He flipped it open and read the caller ID. He groaned and held it to his ear.

"How did you get this number?"

"May called the Joy at the PokeCentre and got the number from her." Ash said through the handset, "They patched it through from there. Where did you go?"

"Did you find him?"

"Yeah. But-"

"Whereabouts are you now?"

He could hear Ash muttering something to someone else with him, before he answered.

"Silly-Gong Plaza." He said. Ganon sniggered, but quickly made it sound like a sneeze. Several people in the background made less effort hiding their own amusement.

"So you're in Silicon Plaza. Right. I'm at the other end of town. We'll meet you at the Pokemon Centre tonight then, okay?"

Before waiting for an answer, he snapped the phone shut.

"I've got to change my number." He sighed.

* * *

Ash looked at the dead piece of plastic in his hand.

"He hung up on me." He moaned. Brock shrugged.

"Maybe he's busy." He offered. Ash looked at the handset, and nodded to himself.

"Yeah…" He mused. Tory glanced away, feeling guilty about not correcting Max's joke. Brock frowned at the situation, looking for a way to lighten the mood. Within seconds, he came up with an ideal solution.

"Hey guys. How about I set a little something up for the four of you?" He suggested. Max sweatdropped.

"Err… I don't think Blind Date would work very well now Brock…" He said, scratching the back of his head. Brock flushed.

"It's not Blind Date! That was only one occasion!"

"So what is it?" Ash asked. Brock shook his head.

"You four get settled in a park, and I'll bring it out." He said. He watched as they moved over towards the green, before heading into the nearest bistro. He flashed a 20 dollar note at the head chef.

"Would it be okay if I used the oven please?" He asked, "I want to make a special dish for my friends."

The chef looked at the note in his hand, before moving aside.

"Just as long as you wash up any mess you make." He said. Brock smiled, and set about his own culinary magic.

* * *

"Care for a walk?" Ganon asked, offering Laura his arm.

"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind them. A familiar girl with a laptop was running up to them. She stopped just next to them to catch her breath.

"You… very good runner… practically flying…" She said as she tried to order her thoughts together. Ganon held Laura under a scrutinizing gaze, much to her discomfort.

'_I wasn't literally flying.'_

He smiled. They were too close to lie even if they wanted to.

_Just promise me you won't get yourself in trouble. Again._

'_You're too serious sometimes.'_

_I can't help it. I have a serious nature._

"Hello? You're spacing out on me again." Rebecca said waving a hand in front of Laura's face.

"Sorry. What was the question?"

"What's the name of the Pokemon that made the Aurora earlier? I want to do some research on it at the University before I clock off."

"It's called a Deoxys. That's all." Laura said, turning back to Ganon as the student assistant walked off. She was shocked though to see that he was still looking at Rebecca.

"Excuse me… Rebecca, wasn't it?" Ganon called after her. Rebecca stopped, and looked back to see who was talking.

"Yes?"

"Could you come by the PokeCentre this evening? I'd be very interested to see what you can find on this Deoxys."

Rebecca looked at him blankly, before it clicked in her head. She tipped her head respectfully.

"Thank you Professor." She said, before turning back to leave again, this time uninterrupted. Laura gave Ganon a scathing look.

"What did you invite her over for?" She said accusingly.

"Simple. I want to see how many back doors there are in our computer system."

* * *

Ash, Tory, May, and Max were sat around a large log table in the park, watching Brock carrying a bowl and a large plate towards them. He set them both down on the table, revealing their contents. The bowl contained a white cheese sauce, and the plate was stacked with a small heap of meat. He pulled out a small gas ring from his backpack and set it up under the bowl, keeping it hot. He handed each of them a skewer, before taking one of the pieces of meat and dipping it in the sauce. After a few seconds, he brought it to his mouth, and ate it slowly, savouring the taste.

"Mmm… perfect. Dig in." He said. Ash immediately sprang up with his skewer.

"I'll go first." He said. Max followed suit.

"Hold on!" May cried out to him as he dove into the sauce with his meat laden skewer, and swallowed it in seconds.

"Ooh ooh ooh! It's hot!" He stuttered, trying to fan his mouth to cool it. He screwed up his face, trying to swallow it quickly, "Yum!"

"There's nothing that can stop an argument better than a bunch of full mouths." Brock said triumphantly, "And nothing makes them better than a hearty dish of Delibird Fondue."

"Try some Tory, it's really good." Ash suggested. Tory picked up his skewer gingerly, blowing on it once it had been dipped to prevent it from burning him like it had to Ash. He chewed it carefully, but the meat was surprisingly tender and sweet. Nothing at all like the cooking he was used to.

"You're right." Tory answered, reaching to pick up another piece of meat. He looked up suddenly as he heard something rustling in the undergrowth, and the unmistakable sense of dread that came with Pokemon filled his mind again. He edged away slightly as a pair of Zigzagoon and Shroomish emerged, intrigued by the smell of the food. Brock moved over with a dish of Pokemon food in each hand.

"Well. Hi. There's plenty of Pokemon food, so don't be shy." He said, putting the bowls down in front of them, "There. Dig in guys."

The Pokemon scampered up to the bowls, munching on the food happily. The rest of them stood up to look at them, and whilst Max simply ran up to look at the Pokemon themselves, May and Ash were more preoccupied with Tory.

"Tory. Don't you think they're the cutest?" May asked him. He nodded slowly, and a grin slowly made its way across his face.

"Y…yeah." He said eventually.

"Hey. I bet they'd let you pet them." Ash said. Tory looked up at him, and suddenly noticed that Pikachu had clambered across Ash's shoulder and was extending a paw out to him. Slowly, he moved his own hand up to meet the Pikachu's, his hand quivering more the closer he got. When he was barely a centimetre away though, the sudden dread flared up again, and he recoiled as though he'd had his hand bitten off. He stumbled away, stopping again a few metres away. His breathing was heavy, and the pictures his mind was conjuring up to him were certainly not pretty. The damage a Pokemon could do to a human was monstrous. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, before turning back to face Ash.

"Thanks guys… I'm sorry…" He said, before turning on his heel and dashing away again. Ash watched as he left, slumping slightly.

"Well… we tried." He said regretfully, seeing all the work fall flat on its face.

"Nah. I'm sure we'll get through to him eventually." Brock answered as he started packing away the cooking implements, "I've got to return these plates to the Bistro."

"I'll help." Max chimed in, grabbing the now empty Delibird platter.

"Well I guess I'll see you back at the PokeCentre later then." Ash said. Brock nodded.

"Sure. As part of the deal, I have to wash these, so we'll be back in about two hours." He answered. Max frowned, but didn't argue with what he'd let himself in for. Ideally, he'd get something more important for the trouble.

* * *

The sun was already setting, and the glare reflecting from the forest of glass and steel was blinding. Ash and the group had had to wander around with their forearms over their faces or risk walking blind.

"How can anyone want to live here when you can only see it half the time?" May moaned. She screamed as she crashed into a robot hidden in the haze. It picked itself up, and hovered in front of them.

"Hi dudes." It chimed, "In cases of painfully bright light, please wear your dark glasses."

"We don't have dark glasses." Ash said to it. The face on the screen replaced its eye dots with a pair of glasses.

"Sucks to be you!" It said, sniggering as it flew off.

* * *

"So Brock." Max began as he started scrubbing away at the platter in the Bistros kitchens, "Where do you know Ganon from?"

Brock looked up from the stubborn piece of burnt food in the pan at Max. He thought it was odd that a boy that hated washing actually volunteered to help.

"He's just an old friend." He said quietly, concentrating on the grime again. Max was obviously unconvinced.

"Well he didn't seem to be pleased to see you when we met him at the station. Or his girlfriend."

Brock snorted to himself. Girlfriend hardly cut it. They were besotted with each other.

"It's not important." He said, scrubbing the pan slightly harder than absolutely necessary. Max frowned. He hadn't got any of the information he wanted, and he had to wash up. He couldn't decide which was worse.

* * *

Ganon stepped onto a conveyor with Laura, and waited as the belt swept through the town. They moved in general past more steel behemoths than they could count, although occasionally there were glimpses of more dated buildings, and once even a clear expanse of grass on one side bordered at the edge by the sea. Laura rested her head on his shoulder as she watched the sunset reflecting on the surface of the water, broken into thousands of flickering orbs. She sighed loudly. Ganon looked at her, and put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. She looked back up at him and smiled.

"It's been too long…" Ganon said sadly. Laura nodded, and the belt carried them past the brief oasis.

* * *

Ash was pacing the PokeCentre gardens angrily. Ganon still hadn't turned up, and he was getting anxious.

"When's that idiot going to turn up?!" He yelled angrily. Brock looked up from a breeders handbook he was reading.

"Ash, Ganon's not an idiot. He's a professor." He said. Ash growled and stomped over towards the wall. He leant on the edge, and looked down at the street below, still fuming angrily. May watched him forlornly, before moving over and standing next to him. He tried edging away, but she followed.

"Get away from me."

"Ash, moping is not going to get anything done. What do you want?"

Ash growled at her, and pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Just leave me alone."

"Ash, what's wrong?" She persisted. Ash looked up at her, before sighing in defeat.

"It's everything. First I get humiliated by some guy with his head shoved so far up his own… Then I mess up making friends with Tory."

"Come on…" May said, leaning so her back was now against the balcony edge, "It's not all bad. You _did_ make friends with Tory, and no-one thinks any worse of you for losing. If anything, you were a better sportsman than they were."

Ash looked down at the street below, blushing slightly.

"Really?" He asked. She smiled, and nodded. Looking at her now, his previous frustration subsided. But then again, she always did have a way with him. Probably because she always dressed in red; a colour he had a particular fondness for since nearly a year ago.

"Thanks May!" He said, cheerful again. She blushed.

"Thanks."

"Hey. Why are you blushing?" He asked her. She blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"Oh it's nothing." She said. Unfortunately for her, Max was nearby.

"Yeah. If you call the fact that you lov-" He was stopped as May whipped down and put a hand over his mouth to stop him shouting it out.

"Huh? What was he going to say?" Ash asked her. Max struggled against Mays grip, but couldn't move it.

"It was nothing, just forget it." She said, before pulling her hand away hurriedly, "Urgh! He licked me! You little beast!" She shouted at Max, practically throwing him back into the PokeCentre.

* * *

Ganon dodged aside as Max dived through the French windows, and stepped out onto the balcony. Ash noticed him immediately, and his cockiness returned just as quickly.

"Hey! What time do you call this?!" He shouted. Ganon held up both his wrists to show he didn't have a watch.

"I was at the other side of town." He said flatly.

"Yeah, well because you're late, I challenge you to a battle." He said dramatically. Ganon raised an eyebrow.

"You've been trounced once today already. Isn't that enough?" He said. Ash growled.

"I'll show you who trounces who!" He shouted. Ganon sighed.

"Very well. You fine with doubles?" He said, as Laura came to stand next to him.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Pick a partner."

Ash looked around at the assembled party.

"Brock? Will you help me out?" He asked. Brock shook his head.

"No thanks. I choose life." He said, causing Ash to frown in annoyance.

"May?"

"Yeah I'll join you." She said, jogging over and taking her place next to Ash.

"So everyone ready?" Ganon said, throwing the Pokeball into the space between them. A Lucario burst out of the ball, and looked around. As soon as Moxis noticed the makeshift arena, he frowned.

"You're battling? Who's suicidal?" He asked. Ganon smirked.

"Ash challenged me."

Laura threw out a Pokeball of her own, a Swampert leaping from the ball. The Pokemon smirked as she saw the space put aside for them.

"Finally" The Swampert said, "Let's kick some booty."

"Language, Maria." Laura said in a reprimanding tone. Maria turned her head to smirk at her.

"Old habits die hard." She called back. Ash sent out Pikachu, whilst May sent out a Bulbasaur. Moxis snorted.

"Oh this is going to be easy." He said.

"Hey. I'll kick your butt any day." Pikachu called over. Maria yawned.

"I've lost count of how many guys say that." She said, inspecting non-existent nails. Pikachu sparked angrily.

"Guys. Stop goading them. No-one likes a show-off." Laura said.

"Fine. Let's get this battle started." Moxis said, clapping his paws together.

* * *

Ash's Pikachu began the fight by trying to use a thunderbolt on Moxis.

"Maria. Use a water gun in the path to ground it."

"Moxis, sit down."

Both Pokemon obliged, with Moxis sitting down reluctantly, and Maria redirecting the electricity. The bolt coursed through her, but it didn't even affect her as it was immediately earthed. They just glared at the opposing team, waiting for another move to evade.

"Bulbasaur! Razor leaf on the Marshtomp." May called out. Laura rolled her eyes.

"Maria, do night fever."

"Moxis," Ganon paused as he suddenly realised what Laura said, before finishing the command, albeit awkwardly, "Fire punch into the path of the leaves."

Flames billowed around Moxis's distorted claws, and he pushed the ball through the cloud of leaves the Bulbasaur had thrown up. They all burnt to a crisp, and Maria started dancing… badly. Ganon looked at Laura in embarrassment.

_Why did you choose night fever?_

'_Just thought it would be funny. And you know she loves dancing.'_

"Pikachu! Volt tackle on the Lucario, and dodge the Marshtomp."

"Don't bother having Maria get in the way. He can handle it himself." Ganon said.

"Okay. Maria, you can go inside and get a coke or something."

The Pikachu surged forwards, the electric current billowing around it, heading straight for Moxis. Ash smirked a battler's smile as he saw the Marshtomp wandered off rather than protect her comrade, and thought victory was assured as the attack hit home. Electricity arched from the collision, blocking the view with the dust cloud thrown up, but they quickly dissipitated to show a rather less expected scene.

Pikachu was held in place by Moxis's paws, sparks playing over the digits. Beads of sweat were evident on his brow as he suppressed the electricity trying to flow through him, and he shoved the mouse backwards roughly towards Ash. Pressing his paws together, he fired the remaining voltage back at the Pikachu, who barely dodged as the bolt shorted out a lamp-post behind. Maria wandered back in, drinking from a paper beaker of Pepsi.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked. Laura smiled.

"Nothing much."

May's Bulbasaur looked back at her trainer, in fear. May was just as worried, but continued regardless.

"Bulbasaur tackle. Whichever you want."

"Oh come on! Tackle?!" Ganon shouted in disbelief as the Bulbasaur launched itself at Moxis. Moxis was similarly taken aback by the overly simple command, and the Pokemon crashed straight into him. He shrieked and dropped to his knees in pain, and all four trainers, and the other three Pokemon, blushed heavily when they realised where he'd just been tackled. He sat there howling quietly for a few seconds, before looking back up at Ash's team.

"You… you just… dammit!" He yelled at them. Bulbasaur started backing away quickly, and the dog leapt up, resuming its position in front of Ganon.

"These things happen… these things happen…" He muttered to himself, "Oh god, can we just finish these guys already?" He called back. Ganon looked over at Laura.

"Is Maria up for that?" He asked her. She looked at the mudfish briefly, before nodding. Moxis smiled.

"Aura Storm." He whispered, just loud enough for Maria to hear. She smirked at the Pikachu.

"And you thought you stood a chance. I guess it always was good to go out with a bang." She said, blasting a fierce jet of water into the sky. Moxis leapt into the jet, and was catapulted high into the air. He spun as he kicked out of the jet at the top, and pointed his palms down at the ground. A ball of Aura formed between his palms, pulsing and spinning under his ministrations. As the ball contracted violently, the energy was released as a giant beam of pure power at the hapless Pikachu and Bulbasaur. The beam built into a huge explosion upon impact, blasting them both aside. Instant knockout. Moxis landed heavily on the balcony, and smiled apologetically at Ash.

"You really didn't stand a chance. I've had some pretty intensive training since Altomare." He said telepathically. Ash gasped, lowering his voice to address the Lucario alone.

"You're from Altomare?"

"No. Cemusem Village in Kraith." Moxis corrected, "But we have family there, so we visit occasionally."

"Hey Ash." Ganon called over, interrupting the exchange to throw two star shaped blocks at him. The boy caught them, and studied them carefully.

"What are these?" He asked.

"Max Revives. Give one to each of them, and they'll be as right as rain." He said, calling Moxis back next to him rather than putting him in a Pokeball. Ash picked up Pikachu, and held the object to its fur. Pikachu slowly opened its eyes, before becoming immediately alert again as the block disintegrated over its fur. Ash nodded appreciatively, and handed the other one to May.

* * *

"What on earth was that?" A woman's voice said from behind him. Ganon looked around to see Rebecca arrive with her laptop, "I've never seen an attack like that."

"It's an Aura Storm, but that doesn't matter. What did you find on this Deoxys?"

"Nothing. Not even close." She answered resentfully. Laura winked triumphantly at Ganon.

"Should have known it would be a waste of time." She called out loud enough for them both to hear. Ganon frowned at her distastefully.

"Hey! There's that light in the sky again." Max called out suddenly. Everyone looked up to see that the purple haze was drifting through the sky, illuminating the dark city below with its ghostly light.

"Awesome." Ash gasped. May stepped closer to Ash, and was tempted to lay her head on his shoulder. She decided against it… just.

"It's beautiful." She said, alerting Ash to how close she had gotten. He smiled nervously at her, and edged away a bit.

Rafe's sisters ran out onto the balcony to look at the light show, along with Sid who had just tried flirting with the young Joy working inside. Rebecca already had her computer out, and was scanning the light with a camera mounted on the side. Laura was scrutinising it under her gaze.

"Huh? But that's impossible."

"What is?" One of the twins asked her. Rebecca looked down at the youngsters, and decided to explain it for them. After all, they were only small. What could they know?

"That's called an Aurora, but it can only be seen at the North and South Poles."

"They are starting to appear further from the poles as well though." Ganon pointed out, "We're in a period just before the magnetic poles switch over, and so the magnetic field around the earth is gradually diminishing. In about a few centuries or so, North will be south, and South will be north."

"Yeah, remind me to change my compass." Moxis said sarcastically. Ganon shot him a warning look, and he held up his paws defensively.

"Well look who's still in town." Rafe said as he suddenly noticed Ash.

"So?" Ash replied tersely. Rafe smirked.

"Well after that devastating defeat in front of thousands of people, I thought you might be a little embarrassed to show your face."

"Oh yeah?! How about a rematch?! Tomorrow, in the Battle Tower?!"

"Well it's tempting, but are you sure you want to lose face again? I mean, I just saw the professor utterly trounce- OW!"

Moxis had chomped down on Rafe's hand, much to Ash's amusement. He tried to shake the Pokemon off, but to no avail. His jaws were simply too strong.

"Why you son of a bitch! Get off me!" He demanded. Moxis spat out his hand, giving him a sour look.

"And was that supposed to be an insult? Of course I'm the son of a bitch." He replied. Rafe gawked at the Pokemon.

"You talk?"

"Oh shut up, you son of a human… and that's a real insult." Moxis replied waving him off, wandering back over to Ash and May. He looked between the two several times.

"Are you two… you know. Together?" He asked. They both looked at each other, May blushing as they made eye contact, before looking back at her feet before Ash could notice. About as subtle as several tons of bricks dropping onto a hundred whoopee cushions.

"N-no…" She stuttered awkwardly. Moxis nodded slowly, but sceptically. He didn't need to be able to read Aura to tell that May was actually infatuated.

* * *

Ganon and Laura had both moved over towards a quieter part of the veranda. He unhitched a pokeball from his belt, and a Sneasel stepped quietly onto the paved courtyard. He blinked several times, before looking up at Ganon obediently.

"The Aurora I presume." Kelvin hissed through the teeth. Laura nodded.

"Can you read it?" She asked. Kelvin laughed.

"Read it? I can speak it." He said. Both of them backed up slightly from this revelation.

"But you're not a Ruffian. You don't have the organs required to speak it." Ganon argued. Kelvin shook his head.

"Correct. I don't. But organs can be replaced, and organs can be artificial."

"So you're saying…"

"I know what you want me to do. Give me your laser-pen." Kelvin said, extending a claw. Ganon paused for a second, before extracting the gadget from his pocket and handing it to Kelvin. He analysed it for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Yes… this would shuffice… suffice! Damn teeth…" He muttered, "How long can you give me to work on it?"

"All night." Ganon said. Kelvin nodded, smiling.

"Good. So… I'll get to work." He said, walking off with the laser. Ganon watched as the Sneasel walked away, not noticing Laura suddenly resting her head on his shoulder.

"You know… those lights kind of remind me of the first time I knew you were in Cemusem." She cooed into his ear, watching the undulating light. Ganon looked up, but smiled bitterly. Experiment number nine, with certain complications provided by a sadistic orange bird.

"Don't let Moxis hear you talking about that… He's still sore about it." He warned. She glanced over at the canine talking to Ash, and sighed.

"So that's why he always wears the black sash instead of the blue one."

Both of them almost jumped out of their skin as a terrified scream punctuated the night air. Everyone on the balcony spun around to see Tory backing into a wall away from a Sneasel, a box cradled in his arms. Ganon facepalmed as he realised whose Sneasel it was.

"Kelvin! Don't you have work to do?!" He shouted across. The Sneasel looked back at Tory, before ambling back into the centre, muttering to himself. Ash walked over to the still petrified boy.

"Tory. Hi. How are you?" He asked. Tory looked over at Ash, and having calmed down from the Sneasel episode, held up the box in his hands.

"I couldn't just leave you guys without thanking you for the fondue earlier properly, so Hugo and I made these for you." He said, pulling open the lid of the box. Inside, the crate was packed full of gingerbread cookies in the shape of various Pokemon and Pokeballs.

"Wow! Pokemon cookies!" Ash said, picking a Pikachu shaped one out of the top. The real Pikachu on his shoulder snatched it out of his hands, and gobbled it up greedily, smirking at his trainer, causing Ash to laugh.

"Yeah! We shouldn't let the Pokemon miss out on these. Come on out everyone." He called out, hurling several of his Pokeballs into the air, a Grovyle, Corphish, Torkoal and Swellow leaping out onto the ground in front of him. Most of the other trainers followed suit: Rafes sisters sent out a Masquerain and a Surskit between them, Sid sent out his Blastoise, and Rafe sent out the Blaziken. Laura jolted upright as she spotted the Blaziken, causing Ganon to almost fall off the balcony in alarm.

"Same beak, same plumage… no doubt about it." She said, "If he's not her son, he's one hell of a close relative."

* * *

Whilst all the other trainers and their Pokemon played games on the balcony, Ganon edged their way towards the Blaziken sat by the edge, apparently too distracted by something to join in. He sat at one side of the bird, looking up into the purple stained sky.

"Nice night" Ganon said, trying to draw the Blaziken into casual conversation. It failed miserably.

"No small talk. I've seen that look on your face before. You want something." He said briskly. Ganon paused and nodded.

"Yes. I was just wondering about your family."

"Don't have one. End of discussion." The Blaziken said flatly. Ganon frowned.

"Sorry to hear that. Its just you reminded me of a certain member of your species under the name of Sarah." He said, stressing the name. The Blaziken would have flared his nostrils in alarm if they weren't fused to his rigid beak.

"How do you know her?" He asked in a growl. Ganon brushed his silver fringe aside.

"Let's just say she had a thing for me when we were young… and I expect still does." He said tapping his nose to draw the Blaziken's attention to his face. Noticing the boy's eyes, he smirked.

"I have nothing more to say to you then, _professor _Ganon. I'm quite sure this Sarah won't appreciate you asking about her behind her back."

* * *

Just over an hour later, the aurora disappeared, dropping the balcony back into shadows. Tory had already left, saying that his father wanted him back home before eleven, and everyone else decided it would be wiser to start thinking about going to sleep as well. Ash, Brock, May, and Max had retired to their shared bedroom, and were mostly sound asleep.

Of course, Ash had chosen the bunk bed underneath Brock, although it wasn't just his muttering names of various girls in his sleep that was keeping him awake. Looking to the end of the room, he could see the moon shining in through the French windows that opened out onto a small private balcony. He smiled fondly, thinking of how similar the room's set-up was to one he'd spent several nights in in Altomare. Getting out of the bed, careful not to wake up Pikachu, he moved over to the window, sitting down in a chair besides it.

Ever since that trip, he'd always dreamt that one day, a Latias would fly to the window again, looking for him. But not just any Latias… he sighed again as he remembered her. Running down the streets together, sharing some of the most fun hours of his life with her…. It didn't seem to matter in his mind she was a Pokemon, somewhere along the line, he'd fallen for her. Pulling over his rucksack, he pulled out a small tube the size of a tennis ball can. Pulling off an end, he gently brought out a rolled up sheet of paper: One of two leaving presents she'd given him. Unrolling it, he smiled at the picture she'd drawn of him, with Pikachu on his shoulder.

Just as he was about to roll the picture back up though, he noticed a detail he'd almost never paid any thought to before. Behind his other shoulder, drawn even smaller than the Pikachu, a boy was stood with spiked silver hair and glasses, roughly about 18 years old.

Immediately flinging open the French window, he stepped onto the balcony, overlooking the veranda the group had been on during the aurora. Ganon and Laura were still down there, talking and nuzzling occasionally. Ash could have sworn that when they were nuzzling, they were both purring with a very familiar sound, almost cooing.

* * *

A well overdue chapter that probably wasn't as good as it should have been. Anyway, you spent the time reading it, so how about reviewing it?


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